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Surface waves and internal tides have a great contribution to vertical mixing processes in the upper ocean. In this study, three mixing schemes, including non-breaking surface-wave-generated turbulent mixing, mixing induced by the wave transport flux residue and internal-tide-generated turbulent mixing, are introduced to study the effects surface waves and internal tides on vertical mixing. The three schemes are jointly incorporated into the Marine Science and Numerical Modeling (MASNUM) ocean circulation model as a part of the vertical diffusive terms, which are calculated by the surface wave parameters simulated from the MASNUM wave model and the surface amplitudes of the mode-1 M2 internal tides extracted from satellite altimetry data using a two-dimensional plane wave fit method. The effects of the mixing schemes on Indian Ocean modeling are tested by five climatological experiments. The surface waves and internal tides enhance the vertical mixing processes in the sea surface and ocean interior, respectively. The combination of the mixing schemes is able to strengthen the vertical water exchange and draw more water from the sea surface to the ocean interior. The simulated results show significant improvement in the thermal structure, mixed layer depth and surface currents if the three schemes are all adopted.

Previous in-situ observations have suggested that bottom water temperature variations in shelf seas can drive significant ocean bottom heat flux (BHF) by heat conduction. The BHF-driven bottom water temperature variations, however, have been overlooked in ocean general circulation models. In this study, we established a sea-sediment fully coupled model through incorporating the BHF. The coupled model included a sediment temperature module/model, and the BHF was calculated based on the sediment heat content variations. Meanwhile, we applied temporally varying BHF in the calculation of the bottom water temperature, which further determined the sediment temperature. The two-way coupled BHF process presents a more complete and physically reasonable heat budget in the ocean model and a synchronously varying sediment temperature profile. The coupled model was validated using a one-dimensional test case, and then it was applied in a domain covering the Bohai and Yellow Seas. The results suggest that when a strong thermocline exists, the BHF can change the bottom water temperature by more than 1°C because the effects of the BHF are limited to within a shallow bottom layer. However, when the water column is well mixed, the BHF changes the temperature of the entire water column, and the heat transported across the bottom boundary is ventilated to the atmosphere. Thus, the BHF has less effect on water temperature and may directly affect air-sea heat flux. The sea-sediment interactions dampen the amplitude of the bottom water temperature variations, which we propose calling the seabed dampening ocean heat content variation mechanism (SDH).

The surface waves and internal tides have great contribution to the vertical mixing processes in the upper ocean. In this study, three mixing schemes, including the non-breaking surface-wave-generated turbulent mixing, the mixing induced by the wave transport flux residue, and the internal-tide-generated turbulent mixing, are introduced to study the effects the surface waves and the internal tides on the vertical mixing. The three schemes are jointly incorporated into the Marine Science and Numerical Modeling (MASNUM) ocean circulation model as a part of the vertical diffusive terms, which are calculated by the surface wave parameters simulated from the MASNUM wave model and the surface amplitudes of the mode-1 M2 internal tides extracted from the satellite altimetry data using a two-dimensional plane wave fit method. The effects of the mixing schemes on the Indian Ocean modeling are tested by five climatological experiments. The surface waves and internal tides lead to enhance the vertical mixing processes in the sea surface and ocean interior, respectively. The combination of the mixing schemes is able to strengthen the vertical water exchange and draw more water from the sea surface to the ocean interior. The simulated results gain significant improvement in the thermal structure and the mixed layer depth if the three schemes are all adopted.

The mode-2 internal solitary waves (ISWs) generated by mode-2 internal tide (IT) are identified by mooring observations in the northern South China Sea (SCS) from 2016 to 2017. Two mode-2 ISWs with a re-appearance period of 24.9 h observed on 29 and 30 July 2016 are characterized by type-b ISWs. They occurred when the isotherms compressed obviously in the vertical direction. Modal decomposition of IT horizontal currents shows that the vertical compression of the isotherms is mainly caused by diurnal mode-2 IT. The analysis of the role of the density stratification reveals that a deeper and thinner pycnocline is favorable for generation of mode-2 ISWs rather than pycnocline intensity. By comparing the mode-2 nonlinear, dispersion coefficients and the Ursell numbers calculated based on the stratification associated with different kinds of ITs with the observation results, it is shown that the diurnal mode-2 IT plays a crucial role in the generation of the mode-2 ISWs. When the diurnal mode-2 IT interacts with the semidiurnal IT and causes a deeper and thinner pycnocline, the mode-2 ISWs are easily excited.

We used satellite altimetry data to investigate the Kuroshio Current because of the higher resolution and wider range of observations. In previous studies, satellite absolute geostrophic velocities were used to study the spatio-temporal variability of the sea surface velocity field along the current, and extraction methods were employed to detect the Kuroshio axes and paths. However, sea surface absolute geostrophic velocity estimated from absolute dynamic topography should be regarded as the geostrophic component of the actual surface velocity, which cannot represent a sea surface current accurately. In this study, mathematical verification between the climatic absolute geostrophic and bin-averaged drifting buoy velocity was established and then adopted to correct the satellite absolute geostrophic velocities. There were some differences in the characteristics between satellite geostrophic and drifting buoy velocities. As a result, the corrected satellite absolute geostrophic velocities were used to detect the Kuroshio axis and path based on a principal-component detection scheme. The results showed that the detection of the Kuroshio axes and paths from corrected absolute geostrophic velocities performed better than those from satellite absolute geostrophic velocities and surface current estimations. The corrected satellite absolute geostrophic velocity may therefore contribute to more precise day-to-day detection of the Kuroshio Current axis and path.

A novel vertical mixing scheme to describe the influence of the non-breaking surface waves in ocean general circulation models is proposed based on the second-order turbulence closure model and a mathematical relationship fitted between the in situ observations of the turbulence kinetic energy dissipation rate and the calculated velocity shear module of non-breaking surface waves. The non-breaking-wave-generated turbulence mixing coefficients can be calculated empirically in terms of the wave spectral parameters including ΦSW, K, and ω, where ΦSW is the wave number spectrum of the significant wave height, K is the wave number, ω is the surface wave frequency. The effect of the new mixing scheme on global ocean circulation simulation was tested using the MArine Science and NUmerical Modeling ocean model. The results indicate significant improvement in the upper-ocean temperature structure and the mixed layer depth, i.e., the non-breaking-wave-generated turbulence mixing plays an important role in the upper ocean at high latitudes in summer for both hemispheres compared with traditional Mellor-Yamada 2.5 scheme.

High incident rates of red tide have occurred off the coast of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River Estuary in summer, resulting from a magnified population growth discharging substantial nutrient loads into this vicinity. The presence of elevated Chlorophyll-a concentrations (≥36.3 μg/l), low suspended sediment concentrations in surface and mid-layers (10 mg/l), a strong saline front and surface water temperature gradient, veering surface winds, and a bimodal shape to the Changjiang Diluted Water (CDW) revealed two red tide patches appearing between August 6-13, 2010. Two distinguishable hydrodynamic driving mechanisms, connected to these incidents, are diagnosed. Field observations and numerical simulations determined a red tide patch in the northeastern offshore area is caused by a northeast transport of the CDW truncated by a northwest intrusion of the Taiwan Warm Current (TWC) as winds deviated. Red tide occurrence in the southern nearshore area originated from a plume front where CDW interfaces with the TWC.

After validated by the in-situ observation, the slab model is used to study the wind-generated near-inertial energy flux (NIEF) in the South China Sea (SCS) based on satellite-observed wind data, and its dependence on calculation methods and threshold criteria of the mixed layer depth (MLD) is investigated. Results illustrate that the total amount of NIEF in the SCS could be doubled if different threshold criteria of MLD are adopted. The NIEF calculated by the iteration and spectral solutions can lead to a discrepancy of 2.5 GW (1 GW=1×109 W). Results also indicate that the NIEF exhibits spatial and temporal variations, which are significant in the boreal autumn, and in the southern part of the SCS. Typhoons are an important generator of NIEF in the SCS, which could account for approximately 30% of the annual mean NIEF. In addition, deepening of the MLD due to strong winds could lead to a decrease of NIEF by approximately by 10%. We re-estimate the annual mean NIEF in the SCS, which is (10±4) GW and much larger than those reported in previous studies.

The spatial and temporal variability of the Kuroshio surface axis northeast of Taiwan Island is investigated using 24 years of surface geostrophic currents derived from satellite altimeter data from 1993 to 2016. The Kuroshio surface axis is derived by an extraction method with three selected parameters, including the length of the subsidiary line, the intervals between two adjacent points, and the distance between the two adjacent subsidiary lines. The empirical mode decomposition analysis on the 24-year Kuroshio axes reveals that the mean periods of intra-seasonal and inter-annual variability, which are the two dominant components, are about 3.2 months and 1.3 years, respectively. The self-organizing map analysis reveals that the variation of Kuroshio axis northeast of Taiwan Island has four best matching unit (BMU) patterns: straight-path (BMUS), meandering-path (BMUM) and two transition stages (BMUT1 and BMUT2). The straight-path pattern shows strong seasonality: more likely occurring in summer. The meandering-path pattern is less frequent than straight-path pattern. During a typical period from November 26, 2012 to January 27, 2013, which is chosen as an independent example, the analysis on the satellite altimeter and sea surface temperature data shows that the patterns of the Kuroshio axis change successively in order of BMUT1&rarr, BMUM&rarr, BMUT2&rarr, BMUS, i.e., the Kuroshio axis migrates from the meandering-path to the straight-path pattern. During the typical period the warm water intrusion and a mesoscale eddy occur at the second stage corresponding to BMUM and migrate northwestward gradually at the last two stages corresponding to BMUT2 and BMUS. The transient order appears only during this typical period but it is not common for the whole study period. The monthly mean relatively vorticity is calculated and analyzed to evaluate the impact of the eddies on the Kuroshio surface axis variability, the results show that the anticyclonic (cyclonic) eddies can promote the Kuroshio surface axis to present the meandering-path (straight-path) pattern because of the potential vorticity conservation. The impacts of the anticyclonic eddies and the cyclonic eddies on the variability of the Kuroshio surface axis are opposite. The long-term day-to-day detection contributes to improving understanding the variability of Kuroshio surface axis northeast of Taiwan Island.

Using time-series figures of sea-level anomaly and geostrophic currents from merged absolute dynamic topography, we analyzed the formation and evolution of the Kuroshio current loop (KCL). The main results are as follows. Perturbation origins of the KCLs are in three areas (eastern, western, and southern) surrounding the Hengchun Submarine Ridge. There are two basic types of KCL formation, i.e., “Kuroshio bend pushing” and “Kuroshio Branch rewinding”, plus their combination. The KCLs propagate westward at 1.6–4.5 cm/s. There are two forms of KCL evolution into a shed eddy. The first is such that the northern KCL section initially divides to become an eddy joining the Kuroshio Branch current, which then separates from that current to become a shed eddy. The second form is such that the northern and southern sections of the KCL are separated almost simultaneously in westward elongated process. To understand the KCL formation mechanism, we derive linear equations in phase space from the governing equations in σ-coordinates, ultimately obtaining two groups of analytical solutions for interactions between waves, topography, and the basic current field. The solutions lead to the following results. The KCL propagates westward with the group velocity of the Kuroshio center region. The Kuroshio generally sweeps over the Hengchun Submarine Ridge, especially in winter, such that there is topographic–baroclinic instability. The analytical solutions effectively reveal the dynamic mechanism of the two basic types of KCL formation.

A 3D, two-time-level, σS-z-σB hybrid-coordinate Marine Science and Numerical Modeling numerical ocean circulation model (HyMOM) is developed in this paper. In HyMOM, the σ coordinate is employed in the surface and bottom regions, and the z coordinate is used in the intermediate layers. This method can overcome problems with vanishing surface cells and minimize the unwanted deviation in representing bottom topography. The connection between the σ and z layers vertically includes an expanded “ghost” method and the linear interpolation. The governing equations in the σS-z-σB hybrid coordinate based on the complete Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes equations are derived in detail. The two-level time staggered and Eulerian forward and backward schemes, which are of second-order of accuracy, are adopted for the temporal difference in internal and external mode, respectively. The computation of the baroclinic gradient force is tested in an analytic test problem; the errors for two methods in HyMOM, which are relatively large only in the bottom layers, are obviously smaller than those in the pure σ and z models in almost all of the vertical layers. A quasi-global climatologic numerical experiment is constructed to test the simulation performance of HyMOM. With the monthly mean Levitus climatology data as reference, the HyMOM can improve the simulating accuracy compared with its pure z or σ coordinate implementation.

A parallel algorithm of circulation numerical model based on message passing interface (MPI) is developed using serialization and an irregular rectangle decomposition scheme. Neighboring point exchange strategy (NPES) is adopted to further enhance the computational efficiency. Two experiments are conducted on HP C7000 Blade System, the numerical results show that the parallel version with NPES (PVN) produces higher efficiency than the original parallel version (PV). The PVN achieves parallel efficiency in excess of 0.9 in the second experiment when the number of processors increases to 100, while the efficiency of PV decreases to 0.39 rapidly. The PVN of ocean circulation model is used in a fine-resolution regional simulation, which produces better results. The capability of universal implementation of this algorithm makes it applicable in many other ocean models potentially.

In this study, to investigate the synoptic time-scale variability of sediment temperature profile and sound speed in shallow seas, one-month-long in situ observations were conducted in Jiaozhou Bay using a newly designed sediment measurement system. A typhoon passage and a heavy rainfall process were captured during the observation. The sediment temperature increased immediately after the significant bottom water temperature increase induced by typhoon passage. A significant increase in the sediment warming rate could be identified at a depth as deep as 0.8 m below seafloor (mbs), and a significant increase in downward sediment heat flux at 0.5 mbs lasted until five days after the typhoon passed. The sediment sound speed was also observed to decrease or increase as soon as the bottom water salinity significantly decreased or the bottom water temperature significantly increased. Moreover, the pore water salinity—which can affect the sediment sound speed—cannot be conducted like heat but can be changed only by diffusion or convection processes, and the static diffusion of salt was too slow for the observed sediment sound speed variation; we therefore conclude that in addition to heat conduction, the pore water convection may play an important role in the synoptic time-scale variations of the sediment temperature and sound speed, which is also consistent with the simulation results.

The Argo float observations are used to investigate the mesoscale characteristics of the Antarctic Intermediate Water (AAIW) in the South Pacific in this paper. It is shown that a subsurface mesoscale phenomenon is probably touched by an Argo float during the float’s ascent-descent cycles and is identified by the horizontal salinity gradient between the vertical temperature-salinity profiles. This shows that the transportation of the AAIW may be accompanied with the rich mesoscale characteristics. To derive the spatial length, time, and propagation characteristics of the mesoscale variability of the AAIW, the gridded temperature-salinity dataset ENACT/ENSEMBLE Version 3 constructed on the in-situ observations in the South Pacific since 2005 is used. The Empirical Mode Decomposition method is applied to decompose the isopycnal-averaged salinity anomaly from 26.8 σ θ –27.4 σ θ , where the AAIW mainly resides, into the basin scale and two mesoscale modes. It is found that the first mesoscale mode with the length scale on the order of 1 000 km explains nearly 50% variability of the mesoscale characteristics of the AAIW. Its westward-propagation speeds are slower in the mid-latitude (around 1 cm/s) and faster in the low latitude (around 6 cm/s), but with an increasing in the latitude band on 25°–30°S. The second mesoscale mode is of the length scale on the order of 500 km, explaining about 30% variability of the mesoscale characteristics of the AAIW. Its westward-propagation speed keeps nearly unchanged (around 0.5 cm/s). These results presented the stronger turbulent motion of the subsurface ocean on the spatial scale, and also described the significant role of Argo program for the better understanding of the deep ocean.

Satellite altimetry sea surface height measurements reveal high mesoscale eddy activity in the southeastern tropical Indian Ocean (SETIO). In this study, the characteristics of mesoscale eddies in the SETIO are investigated by analyzing 564 cyclonic eddy (CE) tracks and 695 anticyclonic eddy (AE) tracks identified from a new version of satellite altimetry data with a daily temporal resolution. The mean radius, lifespan, propagation speed, and distance of CEs (AEs) are 149 (153) km, 50 (46) days, 15.3 (16.6) cm s21, and 651 (648) km, respectively. Some significant differences exist in the eddy statistical characteristics between the new-version daily altimeter data and the former weekly data. Mean vertical structures of anomalous potential temperature, salinity, geostrophic current, as well as heat and salt transports of the composite eddies, are estimated by analyzing Argo profile data matched to altimeter-detected eddies. The composite analysis shows that eddy-induced ocean anomalies are mainly confined in the upper 300 dbar. In the eddy core, CE (AE) could induce a cooling (warming) of 2 degrees C between 60 and 180 dbar and maximum positive (negative) salinity anomalies of 0.1 (-0.3) psu in the upper 50 (110) dbar. The meridional heat transport induced by the composite CE (AE) is southward (northward), whereas the salt transport of CE (AE) is northward (southward). Most of the meridional heat and salt transports are carried in the upper 300 dbar.

In order to investigate the environment and acoustic filed change induced by typhoon in shallow sea, we conducted two experiments just before and after the passage of typhoon Damrey, which is the strongest to affect the area north of the Yangtze River since 1949, in the Yellow sea in 2012. The data show that the temperature of the whole water column increases dramatically except the sea surface layer after the passage of Damrey while the salinity decreases obviously. The thermocline deepens and weakens, which leads to a change of internal wave activity. The transmission losses (TL) of the two experiments show that the environment change induced by typhoon can increase the TL as large as 8 dB at a distance of 9.2 km and depth of 15 m. The scintillation index (SI) of the sound intensity is simulated to estimate the change of the effect of internal wave activity on acoustic field showing that the SI decreases to a half after the typhoon’s passage. The normal mode structures of the two experiments are also significantly different due to the thermocline changes. In addition, the signal arrives earlier after the typhoon’s passage due to the water temperature increase.

A two-time-level, three-dimensional numerical ocean circulation model is established with a two-level, single-step Eulerian time-difference scheme. The mathematical model of the large-scale oceanic motions is based on the terrain-following coordinated, Boussinesq, Reynolds-averaged primitive equations of ocean dynamics. A simple but very practical Eulerian forward-backward method is adopted to replace the most preferred leapfrog scheme as the time-difference method for both barotropic and baroclinic modes. The forward-backward method is of the second order of accuracy, requires only once of the function evaluation per time step, and is free of the computational mode inherent in the three-level schemes. It is superior in many respects to the original leapfrog and Asselin-filtered leapfrog schemes in the practical use. The performance of the newly-built circulation model is tested by simulating a barotropic (tides in marginal seas of China) and a baroclinic phenomenon (seasonal evolution of the Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass), respectively. The three-year time histories of four prognostic variables obtained by the POM model and the two-time-level model are compared in a regional simulation experiment for the northwest Pacific to further show the reliability of the two-level scheme circulation model.

This study aims to figure out satellite imaging mechanisms for submerged sand ridges in the shallow water region in the case of the flow parallel to the topography corrugation. Solving the disturbance governing equations of the shear-flow yields the analytical solutions of the secondary circulation. The solutions indicate that a flow with a parabolic horizontal velocity shear and a sinusoidal vertical velocity shear will induce a pair of vortexes with opposite signs distributed symmetrically on the two sides of central line of a rectangular canal. In the case of the presence of surface Ekman layer with the direction of Ekman current opposite to (coincident with) the mean flow, the two vortexes converge (diverge) at the central line of canal in the upper layer and form a surface current convergent (divergent) zone along the central line of the canal. In the case of the absence of surface Ekman layer, there is no convergent (divergent) zone formed over the sea surface. The theoretical results are applied to interpretations of three convergent cases, one divergent case and statistics of 27 cases of satellite observations in the submerged sand ridge region of the Liaodong Shoal in the Bohai Sea. We found that the long, finger-like, bright patterns on SAR images are corresponding to the locations of the canals (or tidal channels) formed by two adjacent sand ridges rather than the sand ridges themselves.

Based on their differences in physical characteristics and time-space scales, the ocean motions have been divided into four types in the present paper: turbulence, wave-like motion, eddy-like motion and circulation. Applying the three-fold Reynolds averages to the governing equations with Boussinesq approximation, with the averages defined on the former three sub-systems, we derive the governing equation sets of the four sub-systems and refer to their sum as “the ocean dynamic system”. In these equation sets, the interactions among different motions appear in two forms: the first one includes advection transport and shear instability generation of larger scale motions, and the second one is the mixing induced by smaller scale motions in the form of transport flux residue. The governing equation sets are the basis of analytical/numerical descriptions of various ocean processes.

We studied the driving force of the Kuroshio intrusion into the South China Sea (SCS) during the winter monsoon, using satellite-tracked drifters entering the Luzon Strait (LS) through the Balintany and Babuyan Channels from the Philippine Sea. Most drifters passing through the Babuyan Channel in winter entered the interior SCS without a significant change in velocity. However, half of the drifters passing through the Balintany Channel entered the SCS at ∼30 cm/s, which was faster than when they entered the LS. The other half continued moving northwestward into the Kuroshio and returned to the North Pacific. Quantitative analyses, using surface climatological wind and sea surface height anomaly (SSHa) data explained both the difference in velocity of drifters between the two channels and their acceleration through the Balintany Channel. The results suggest that the positive meridional gradient of sea surface height in the Luzon Strait, caused by the pileup of seawater driven by the Northeast monsoon, as well as Ekman flow, contribute to the Kuroshio intrusion into the SCS through the Babuyan and Balintany Channels. The former may be the main driving force.

Diapycnal mixing plays an important role in the ocean circulation. Internal waves are a kind of bridge relating the diapycnal mixing to external sources of mechanical energy. Difficulty in obtaining eigen solutions of internal waves over curved topography is a limitation for further theoretical study on the generation problem and scattering process. In this study, a kind of transform method is put forward to derive the eigen solutions of internal waves over subcritical topography in two-dimensional and linear framework. The transform converts the curved topography in physical space to flat bottom in transform space while the governing equation of internal waves is still hyperbolic if proper transform function is selected. Thus, one can obtain eigen solutions of internal waves in the transform space. Several examples of transform functions, which convert the linear slope, the convex slope, and the concave slope to flat bottom, and the corresponding eigen solutions are illustrated. A method, using a polynomial to approximate the transform function and least squares method to estimate the undetermined coefficients in the polynomial, is introduced to calculate the approximate expression of the transform function for the given subcritical topography.

A linearized instability analysis model with five unknowns was proposed to describe disturbance motions under general oceanic background conditions, including large-scale current shear, density stratification, frontal zone, and arbitrary topography. A unified linear theory of wavelike perturbations for surface gravity waves, internal gravity waves and inertial gravity waves was derived for the adiabatic case, and the solution was then found using Fourier integrals. In this theory, we discarded the assumptions widely accepted in the literature concerning derivations of wave motions such as the irrotationality assumption for surface gravity waves, the rigid-lid approximation for internal gravity waves, and the long-wave approximation for inertial gravity waves. Analytical solutions based on this theory indicate that the complex dispersion relationships between frequency and wave-number describing the propagation and development of the three types of wavelike perturbation motions include three components: complex dispersion relationships at the sea surface; vertical invariance of the complex frequency; and expressions of the vertical wave-number (phase). Classical results of both surface waves and internal waves were reproduced from the unified theory under idealized conditions. The unified wave theory can be applied in the dynamical explanation of the generation and propagation properties of internal waves that are visible in the satellite SAR images in the southern part of the China Seas. It can also serve as the theoretical basis for both a numerical internal-wave model and analytical estimation of the ocean fluxes transported by wavelike perturbations.

A three-dimension ecological dynamic model was established to numerically study the relationship of HAB and environmental conditions. The numerical experiments showed that the growth of diatom, the dominant HAB specie, was mainly restricted by phosphate and silicate. If the concentrations of phosphate and silicate reach 17–25 µg/L and 300–375 µg/L respectively, the water is in a state of eutrophication. When phosphate and silicate up to 26–32 µg/L and 350–500 µg/L respectively, HAB could be induced. The major regions of HAB occurrence are Jiaozhou Bay mouth, coastal bays, and coastal area from Maidao to Shilaoren. To avoid HAB occurrence, concentration of phosphate and silicate should not exceed 17–20 µg/L and 300 µg/L as a whole. Reasonable control of pollutant discharge is a key point to prevent water eutrophication and HAB occurrence.

A theoretical framework to include the influences of nonbreaking surface waves in ocean general circulation models is established based on Reynolds stresses and fluxes terms derived from surface wave-induced fluctuation. An expression for the wave-induced viscosity and diffusivity as a function of the wave number spectrum is derived for infinite and finite water depths; this derivation allows the coupling of ocean circulation models with a wave number spectrum numerical model. In the case of monochromatic surface wave, the wave-induced viscosity and diffusivity are functions of the Stokes drift. The influence of the wave-induced mixing scheme on global ocean circulation models was tested with the Princeton Ocean Model, indicating significant improvement in upper ocean thermal structure and mixed layer depth compared with mixing obtained by the Mellor–Yamada scheme without the wave influence. For example, the model–observation correlation coefficient of the upper 100-m temperature along 35° N increases from 0.68 without wave influence to 0.93 with wave influence. The wave-induced Reynolds stress can reach up to about 5% of the wind stress in high latitudes, and drive 2–3 Sv transport in the global ocean in the form of mesoscale eddies with diameter of 500–1,000 km. The surface wave-induced mixing is more pronounced in middle and high latitudes during the summer in the Northern Hemisphere and in middle latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere.

A three-dimensional, prognostic, wave–tide–circulation coupled numerical model is developed to study the effects of tidal mixing on the summertime vertical circulation in the Yellow Sea (YS). The distribution and mechanisms of upwelling are investigated by numerical means. Validated by historical tide gauge data, satellite sea surface temperature (SST) data, and cruise observation data, the model shows satisfactory performances in reproducing the dominant tidal system and three-dimensional sea temperature structure. Model results suggest that strong tidal mixing plays an important role in the formation of the vertical circulation in the YS. The Yellow Sea Cold Water Mass (YSCWM) is fringed by typical tidal mixing fronts (TMFs), which separate the cold, stratified water at the offshore side from the warm, well-mixed, shallow water at the other side. Considerable baroclinic gradient across the TMF makes the frontal zone the spot where the most active vertical circulation occurs; a secondary circulation is triggered with a distinct upwelling branch occurring mainly on the mixed side of the front. The numerical model produces systematic upwelling belts surrounding the YSCWM, and the upwelling is essentially induced by the TMF over sloping topography. The relative importance of tidal mixing and wind forcing for upwelling is further examined in numerical experiments. The southerly wind enhances the upwelling off the western coasts, but its overall influences in the whole YS are less important than tidal mixing. As shown by both satellite data and numerical modeling, the summertime SST field in the YS is featured by the stable existence of several site-selective surface cold patches (SCPs), most of which scatter in the waters off convex coastlines. One of the SCPs is found off Subei Bank, and the others are located off the eastern tip of Shandong Peninsula and off the three tips of Korean Peninsula. Two processes give rise to the SCP: on the one hand, TMF-induced upwelling supplies cold water from the deep layer; on the other hand, tidal mixing itself can stir the bottom water upward and homogenize the water column vertically. In the waters around the tips of peninsula in the YS, the tidal currents are extraordinarily strong, which provides a possible explanation for the site-selectivity of the SCPs.

In this study, we develop empiric and dynamic methods to detect the underlying sea bottom topography from synthetic aperture radar (SAR) images. The ocean bottom features can be seen from SAR images due to the modulation of the surface waves by the nonuniform currents, which, by motion equations, should be a function of depth. We first derive the SAR image equation at a given time from Valenzuela's formula and the expression of micro-scale wave spectrum. By integrating the SAR image equation and the governing equations for ocean currents, we establish the "forward and inverse problems" for dynamic detection of topography. To utilize the SAR images, we separate the current modulation scale from the surface waves by a two-dimensional empirical mode decomposition method based on the Delaunay triangulation with the most protruding principle and the Berstein–Bezier fitting and interpolation with the most optimum principle. Examples of bottom topography detection from SAR images are presented.

Long-term hydrographic temperature and salinity transect data in the East China Sea from June 1955 to November 2001 are analyzed in order to examine the geostrophic velocity and the structure of the Kuroshio current. The structure of the Kuroshio Current is divided into three basic forms, a single-core structure, a double-core structure and a multi-core structure; the appearance percentage of the three forms are 53.1%, 31.4%, and 15.4%, respectively. The analysis suggests that multi-core structures have significant seasonal and interannual variabilities that are not fully understood but may relate to variations in transport and associated flow instabilities. The Kuroshio's spatial character is also analyzed in detail by applying a simplified model of motion instability into this multi-core structure of the East China Sea Kuroshio. The theoretical results are found to be consistent with the observations, suggesting that the instability of the Kuroshio in the East China Sea may bring forth the formation of the observed multi-core structure.

Some basic statistics for wave breaking have been derived based on the statistical model of real sea waves. The analytic expressions of breaking entrainment depth and surface whitecap coverage involved with both sea wave characteristics and surface wind velocity have been derived on the basis of the whitecap formation model. The concept of the upper envelope for all the whitecap coverage data versus wind speed has been proposed, and it is assumed to correspond to the whitecap coverage in the case of the infinite wind duration and fetch to determine the model constants. The analytic expressions of breaking entrainment depth and whitecap coverage have been compared with the observations in several ways, and consistently favorable agreement can be found for most observations.

In the surface wind drift layer with constant momentum flux, two sets of the consistent surface elevation expressions with breaking and occurrence conditions for breaking are deduced from the first integrals of the energy and vortex variations and the kinetic and mathematic breaking criterions, then the expression of the surface elevation with wave breaking is established by using the Heaviside function. On the basis of the form of the sea surface elevation with wave breaking and the understanding of small slope sea waves, a triple composite function of real sea waves is presented including the functions for the breaking, weak-nonlinear and basic waves. The expression of the triple composite function and the normal distribution of basic waves are the expected theoretical model for surface elevation statistics.

From the similarity theorem, an expression of bubble population is derived as a function of the air entrainment rate, the turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) spectrum density and the surface tension. The bubble size spectrum that we obtain has a dependence of $$a^{ - 2.5 + n_d } $$ on the bubble radius, in which n d is positive and dependent on the form of TKE spectrum within the viscous dissipation range. To relate the bubble population with wave parameters, an expression about the air entrainment rate is deduced by introducing two statistical relations to wave breaking. The bubble population vertical distribution is also derived, based on two assumptions from two typical observation results.

Laboratory experiments and field observations show that the equilibrium range of wind wave spectra presents a −4 power law when it is scaled properly. This feature has been attributed to energy balance in spectral space by many researchers. In this paper we point out that white noise on an oscillation system can also lead to a similar inverse power law in the corresponding displacement spectrum, implying that the −4 power law for the equilibrium range of wind wave spectra may probably only reflect the randomicity of the wind waves rather than any other dynamical processes in physical space. This explanation may shed light on the mechanism of other physical processes with spectra also showing an inverse power law, such as isotropic turbulence, internal waves, etc.

Sectional velocity distribution of the East China Sea Kuroshio is one of the basic points in the study of the Kuroshio. Hydrographic temperature and salinity data at G-PN section in the East China Sea from June 1955 to November 2001 are collected and properly processed to calculate the geostrophic current using dynamic height method at the transect of the Kuroshio. After analysis of calculation results, the basic current structure of the Kuroshio in its main part is examined together with scalar estimate and characters of multi- core structure, and spacial-temporal variations of current cores' position. Main result shows that (1) single-core structure, double-core structure and multi-core structure are basic forms in axial part of the Kuroshio; (2) abvious temporal variations exist in current structure of the Kuroshio; (3) the current of structure of the Kuroshio has distinctly seasonal association. The number of current cores is on the high side of core numbers in average and multi-core stucture appears in fall mostly.

The scattering process, which means the redistribution of energy fluy in modenumber space, is analyzed for internal waves propagating from the abyssal ocean onto a subcritical strait slope and then a shelf region. In light of Wunsch’s work, the waves are analytically expressed as superimposition of eigensolutions. Two parameters have evident effects on the distribution of energy flux in the shelf region: one is the ratio of water depth in the shelf region to that in the abyssal ocean and the other is the ratio of the slope of the internal tide rays to the topographic slope. Generally, there are two patterns of energy flux distribution: the energy flux is focused around one modenumber or focused around two modenumbers. In any case, the range of modenumbers where energy flux is distributed is narrow.

In this paper, the analytical representations of four wave source functions in high-frequency spectrum range are given on the basis of ocean wave theory and dimensional analysis, and the perturbation method is used to solve the governing equations of ocean wave high-frequency spectrum on the basis of the temporally stationary and locally homogeneous scale relations of microscale wave. The microscale ocean wavenumber spectrum correct to the second order has an explicit structure, its first order part represents the equilibrium between different source functions, and its second order part represents the contribution of microscale wave propagation.